The ball trundled across the green, cresting a steep slope and angling toward a wicked pin location. It settled a foot from the hole. Barnes Blake walked over and tapped it in.
Casual.
Blake removed the ball from the cup and smiled modestly, a blistering round of 4-under-par 32 sealed with a deft two-putt. The score paced Westfield in a 143–184 walloping of Union Catholic on Wednesday at Hyatt Hills Golf Course. James Dunn and Jack Paterson shot 1-under-par 35s to follow Blake, and Nick Healey carded a 41, leaving the Blue Devils at a cumulative 1-under par in their first match of the season.
The win arrived two days after Westfield captured the Wall Invitational, by 10 strokes, to commence the season.
Blake’s performance Wednesday bordered on absurd, yet it appeared nonchalant for the Georgetown commit and reigning TOC individual champion.
“I feel like it very easily could have been a lot lower than it was,” Blake said. “I didn’t really do anything special today. I just played a solid round of golf.”
Blake parred the par-4 first hole despite mashing a high tee shot that flirted with the green’s fringe. Then he ripped off three birdies in a row. He sunk a 25-footer on the second hole, stuffed his tee shot to 2 feet on the par-3 third, steered to another birdie on the par-5 fourth.
“My game’s been showing a lot of good,” said Blake, who on Monday shot a 3-over-par 75 to finish tied for fourth at the Wall Invitational. “It’s been showing a lot of potential. I just kind of feel like I’ve been underperforming a bit as of late. But this is how I feel like I can play.”
That should set knees trembling across New Jersey.
Blake hit eight of nine greens on Wednesday, missing only the eighth green. Oh, the eight hole? He chipped that one in for birdie.
Westfield’s scorching play contrasted with the tough conditions. The day was blustery, and the temperature hovered in the 50s. The sky, though, was powder-blue, streaked through with wispy clouds.
“It was a little chilly today,” said Dunn, a junior. “So the conditions weren’t ideal, but we still got the job done.”
On the par-4 first hole, Dunn whipped a low tee shot down the right, drawing it back to rest near the front-right portion of the green. He ultimately carded a par, his first 4 of the day. His mission, purportedly, was to card a 4 on every hole, but he screwed it up with a birdie on the seventh hole.
“I was going for all 4s on the card,” Dunn deadpanned, “and I made one 3 on seven.”
Was the error a disappointment?
“A little bit,” he said, “but it resulted in a better score, so I was pretty happy about that.”
Westfield’s two highest scorers, Brody Esler and Jonathan Gorski, whose scores didn’t factor into the total because a team’s score comprises only its best four scores, shot 43s. That was the same number as Union Catholic’s two best scorers, Henry Heil and Kate LaBarge.
A rough outing for the Vikings.
The Blue Devils soared, though, slipping back into a competitive rhythm and gathering momentum for Friday’s Red Devil Invitational.
“We’re still building our stamina for playing competitive golf,” head coach Ryan Daly said. “It just is a testament to how much work these guys put in the offseason.” Daly also noted the prevalence of Westfield’s depth, which he said creates a competitive environment.
That environment will translate to the Red Devil, which boasts a field loaded with marquee programs. Bergen Catholic will be there. So will Hunterdon Central. In recent years, Westfield has played itself into contention but has always fallen short at the star-studded event.
“It’s gonna be a grind,” Daly said, adding that Westfield certainly will be in contention. “That’s what golf is.”
Wednesday’s match, though a home match for Westfield, transpired at Hyatt Hills instead of Echo Lake Country Club, the Blue Devils’ typical home venue. The Blue Devils dazzled on the shorter but narrower course.
“If you’re starting to hit it wayward,” Blake said of Hyatt Hills, “it can be pretty difficult.”
Wayward?
On this brisk Wednesday afternoon, wayward was a foreign concept for Blake and Westfield.
